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I believe Dipoto / Servais is OK with Monty & Sampson starting, but does not want to see Diaz or Nuno or Weiland or other Tacoma arm pitching in Seattle's rotation.
Thus Lee is starter number 9 now... so if Karns or Kuma goes down, then we see Lee.
Therefore, I kind of expect that the M's pitching staff will remove at least one pitch from Lee's arsenal, and get him to focus on just 3 pitches.
Moreover, once guys start getting healthy, I expect Lee to be groomed for the new 7th inning guy, to see if his velocity gets back into mid 90's consistently